


Waiting

by outerink



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Angst, Based on a Dream, F/M, Fluff, M/M, bapc au?, kinda sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-05
Updated: 2020-08-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:07:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25735540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/outerink/pseuds/outerink
Summary: Nightmare’s young but that doesn’t mean he isn’t strong.
Relationships: Sans & Sans (Undertale), Sans/Sans (Undertale)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 31





	Waiting

Ink woke up to the sound of his phone alarm going off. Confused as to why a timer was even set, he lazily grabbed his phone from under the couch and looked at the screen through half-lidded eyes.

**“RENT’S DUE.”**

The words were flashing on the screen. He pushed his blankets off of himself and huffed. How could he have forgotten?

“Ink! Turn that thing off!”

Cross’ voice could be heard from a few rooms over. It seems that the alarm woke him up as well. 

He beamed, “Get ready to go out, Cross!”

A groan could be heard. Ink laughed to himself.

* * *

Today was the last day he had to finish coding this program. Geno worked as quickly as he could, finally relieved that he was almost finished. 

That was, until, an alarm went off. Groaning internally, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and squinted at the text.

There was no way he could pay rent  _ today! _

“Error!”

A few moments passed before the door to his room flew open and the owner of the name walked it.

“What is it?”

“Rent’s due,” Geno mumbled, pulling a check out of one of his many drawers, “Will you deliver it for me? I have to finish up this programming today.”

The dark-haired boy shrugged lazily, stepping up to his computer and grabbing the check. With mild curiosity, he peeked over his older brother’s shoulder and squinted.

“Do you like doing this boring computer stuff?”

“I’m good at it.”

“Yeah, but do you  _ like  _ it?”

Geno glared at him, “Stop trying to weasel your way out of this. Go pay rent. Oh,” he grabbed an envelope and shoved it into Error’s hands, “Go drop this off in the mail, too.”

Suspicious, Error grabbed the envelope and read the front.

**“Knitting King Academy**

**4298 Hotdog Square**

**Mainland”**

His eyes snapped to the top left corner of it, where the sender information should be.

**“Error Anomaliae**

**1893 Tale Loop Apt 101**

**Multi Isle”**

“Did you seriously fill out my knitting school acceptance form?!” He huffed, “Geno, I told you I didn’t know if I wanted to go or not yet!”

Their conversation was interrupted by a loud cracking noise. Confused, both of the brothers turned to where the noise was coming from. 

A familiar face bust through the wall, leaving a hole shaped like himself behind. The brothers exchanged glances before Geno faked a smile.

“Oh, hey… you…”

**“KILLER!** My name is  **KILLER!”**

“Uhh… sorry?” 

‘Killer’ picked up a mattress, “Don’t play  _ stupid,  _ Genocide!” He proceeded to throw it, meaning to throw it at Geno but accidentally throwing it at Error instead. The glitch was pushed back into a wall.

“He knows your full name?” the glitch sounded surprised. Geno wasn’t a big fan of his full name.

Geno sighed, “I can’t believe our parents named us after weird routes in a video game they like.”

“The game is much better than the shit that you play!” Error snapped back. 

Ignoring their conversation, Killer walked over to the mattress and pulled down the top of it so he could speak face to face with Error,

“Your brother with his weird blood stains was the lowest ranked dueler in our skeleton’s dueling cult.”

Geno walked over to them, his arms crossed.

Error glared at him, “You said you were ranked 12 or something.”

“Yes. Out of 12.”

“And  _ I  _ was ranked 11th!” Killer huffed, “Safely not worst.”

“Ohh… yeah, Killer,” Geno muttered, fake laughing. His brother followed in suit. 

“But when you left, you forced me to take your place as the worst dueler! The only thing I’ve ever wanted was to be the best, but now that I’m ranked last…”

As the odd skeleton continued his rambling Geno shot a glare at Error and gestured to the hole in the wall. Sighing, the glitch turned to it and walked out. 

“I’m gonna punch you and tell you about my ex husband!” He could hear Killer shout as he walked away. Rolling his eyes, he eyed over the letter and the check before making his way to the landowner’s house. 

* * *

“This is great!” Ink chirped as he walked down the stairs of his apartment, “I haven’t paid rent on time in forever!”

Cross didn’t reply, instead looking at him with a knowing glare.

Suddenly, Error turned the corner. He was panting and running.

“Hey, Error!” Ink greeted as the other was beginning to push both him and Cross away from something. Barking could be heard from behind them.

“Oh! You’re paying rent too?” The artist didn’t even seem to notice the loud barking and growling. That is, until he looked over Error’s shoulder and raised a brow, “Who’s dog is that?”

“I don’t know,” The other panted out with an irritated scowl.

He only got more annoyed when his ‘friend’ grabbed Cross and moved out of the way, forcing them all to come to a stop. The idiot walked closer to the dog and grinned.

“Doggy!” He giggled as the dog leapt up and bit onto the part of his scarf that was wrapped around his neck. The dog began to bark and growl. Still, the artist grinned, “So cute…”

Cross walked up to him and pushed the dog into the floor, “No-”

“No! No pushing!” Ink’s scolding seemed to surprise the monochrome skeleton, who only shot an annoyed glare to Error in response.

The artist leaned down, picked the dog up again, and let it bite onto the same part of his scarf that he was biting at before. Cross facepalmed.

“Ink, that dog is  _ choking  _ on your scarf,” The glitch pointed out, sounding unimpressed and unsurprised at the exact same time.

At that moment, a bird flew down from a tree and caught the dog’s attention. It let go of Ink and chased after the bird, eventually shoving it in it’s mouth and running off. 

“They look so happy!” Ink grinned, watching as the dog carried the now-dead bird away from them. 

The other two watched with puzzled expressions. Error glanced at Cross, “Is he being serious?”

“Unfortunately? Yes.”

“Oh, guys, we still have to pay rent!” Ink pointed out, grabbing their wrists and running to the landlord’s apartment, “Come on, you know we can’t be late!”

* * *

It was Ink who knocked on the door and called out, “We are here to pay rent!” 

Both Error and Cross, used to the artist’s lack of respect, watched as the door opened and someone stepped into the doorway. 

Now, most people would be surprised to see a child grabbing the envelope from Ink and opening it, but this town wasn’t full of ‘most people.’

Nightmare almost always wore a purple t-shirt with a white crescent moon on it that looked like it was dripping down his shirt. His dark hair was swept to the side and his purple eyes were as menacing as they always were. He was short, probably due to barely being thirteen years old. 

“An envelope and everything.  _ And  _ it’s not in coins?” He genuinely sounded surprised. Ink usually paid his rent super late in coins. It was odd to see him being responsible, honestly. 

Just as the artist was about to brag at how ‘prepared’ he was, the younger sneezed. Cross backed away in absolute horror. He was a germaphobe, to say the least.

“Nightmare! Are you sick?” Ink frowned, “Error could get you some soup!”

“What? I never said that!” Error glared at him, “Tea would be  _ much  _ better.”

“Iced tea? No, wait, that’s stupid.”

“You  _ are  _ stupid-”

“No, thank you,” Nightmare interrupted. 

The other two didn’t seem to hear this. Ink crossed his arms, “I can go get you some blankets!”

“No, thanks.”

“Or some eckanaide,” Ink mumbled, “Eschanai-”

“Echinacea,” Error corrected, “Or maybe vitamin C could work. I can ask Outer.”

“Maybe milk would work!”

_ “Milk?  _ A neti pot would be better than that! Even a  _ scarf  _ would be!”

“Or a mitten?”

“Mittens. Plural.”

Nightmare leaned against the doorway, “May I play with Cross?”

“I don’t have-  _ oh,  _ Cross?” Ink glanced at the shorter, who was now shaking his head. Still, he let out a sigh and nodded, “Sure?”

“The hell?! I’m leaving!” Cross ran off.

“I’ll be right back,” Ink called back to them as he followed.

Awkwardly, Error pulled the check out of his pocket and held it out to Nightmare, “Here’s my rent.”

Nightmare glanced up to him, confusion laced into his expression. “I don’t know who you are.”

* * *

“Come on, Cross! Just hang out with him and Dust for a while! That’s all he wants!”

Ink had grabbed Cross’ wrist. 

In response, the teenager frowned, “No.”

“But-”

“But what?”

“Just  _ look  _ at him! He’s sick!”

Both of them glanced at the scene ahead of them. Error was now bending down and holding out the check to him, visibly annoyed.

“I’m in room 101? Usually one of my brothers gives you the money.”

Cross and Ink made eye contact again. The artist’s expression saddened, “And his brother’s not around.”

“Nope.” 

“So cold, Cross. So cold. Like a monster. In winter.”

In the distance, a new sound could be heard.

“It’s time for Radiant Reaper’s Guide to Not Dying Hour!”

“Radiant Reaper!” Cross gasped, running into Nightmare’s house. Ink followed closely behind, clearly confused by his change of heart.

In the distance, the TV could be heard again.

“Okay, so, first of all, don’t sit in an alligator’s mouth. It could kill you. Second of all, don’t drink poison. That, too, can kill you. Third of all…”

“See you later,” Nightmare stepped into his house backwards.

“Wait, Nightmare!”

“The frick do you want now, Ink?”

**“If anything happens to Cross I’ll-”**

“Yeah, yeah. You’ll ground me or something.”

Ink nodded, “Glad you get it.”

The door slammed shut and Error glanced at Ink, confused by his sudden outburst.

“What?” The artist frowned, “Just looking out for my child like any good parent would do.”

“Oh, makes sense,” Error mumbled, following him as he walked away. Then, he peeked up. “Wait, Cross is your son?!”

* * *

“Don’t move in front of a moving vehicle because, surprisingly, you’ll die…”

Cross was sitting down next to Dust. Nightmare crossed his arms.

“Talk to each other. Become friends. Let’s all hang out when I’m done doing landlord stuff…”

The young boy walked away, leaving Dust and Cross alone.

“Hey, sorry about this,” Dust sighed, “He’s still learning how to make friends.”

Dust was Nightmare’s roommate and ‘legal guardian.’ Basically, he was there so Nightmare wouldn’t be kicked out of his house and taken away.

He was younger than both Dust and Cross at around eighteen years old. Cross was four years younger than him, but their height difference made their age gap seem much larger.

Hands down, Dust was one of the tallest people that Cross had ever met. 

“All’s good,” Cross replied awkwardly, crossing his arms and focusing on the TV once again.

* * *

“So, I guess I don’t have to watch Cross today!” Ink joked with a shrug, “Wanna go to your place or something?”

Error shook his head, “Geno has another of his weird friends over.”

They began to walk aimlessly, not knowing where to go just yet. 

“I’d say we could go to my place but-”

_ “No.  _ Your house is far too cluttered and colorful.”

“That’s what I thought.”

Error hummed. “Can I show you something?”

“Like what?”

“It’s around the back. I think you’re gonna like it.”

He threw a crumpled up paper into the dumpster behind him, not even noticing that he missed the shot.

Ink laughed, picking it up, “How’d you miss a giant dump…” He read the words ‘Knitting King and frowned, “...ster.” Silently, he folded the envelope and shoved it into his pocket. 

* * *

Cross was sprinting down the hallways, trying to ignore Nightmare’s calls from behind him. Desperate to escape, he quickly snuck into a room with a slightly cracked door and watched as the landlord walked by.

Letting out a sigh of relief, he relaxed his shoulders and turned his attention to the loud beeping noise in front of him.

There, laying down on the bed, was a peaceful form. Dream, he recognized, was wearing a golden circlet that matched his blonde hair. Flowers, apples, candies, and other things of the sort were surrounding him. He was attached to multiple machines, probably to ensure that he was still in a comatose state instead of just constantly worrying about him being dead. 

“...He’s been asleep for a long time.”

Nightmare’s voice startled him. He walked into the room, Dust following behind him with a small frown. 

“I read once in a book that love and happiness could wake a sleeping angel. I thought if I helped you and Dust become friends, we could all be happy and love hanging out with one another. Then maybe my brother would wake up,” He set a hand over his twin’s cold one and blinked back tears, “Have you ever helped someone feel loved and happy, Cross?”

The other wasn’t sure how to answer.

* * *

“If you need anything, just call us, okay?” 

It was night time now. Nightmare was still sick and Ink, of course, was still worried. Error awkwardly waited for him to finally bring Cross home.

The boy nodded and watched as the others walked off. He walked outside and locked the door behind him, yawning.

“Nightmare, it’s best you get to bed,” Dust mumbled tiredly, “I’m going to sleep. I’ll be in my room if you need me.”

“Okay.”

At that, Dust turned on his heels and walked into his room. Nightmare, however, stayed in the kitchen.

He grabbed a pack of candies and unwrapped a few of them, placing each and every sweet treat onto the plate. 

He didn’t eat them.

Instead, he picked up the plate and walked into Dream’s room. Frowning at the sight of his brother still asleep, he stepped to a pile of more plates and placed the new one on top of the rest. All of them were covered in uneaten candy.

He closed the blinds before turning back to his brother’s sleeping form.

“It’s been four years now.”

As expected, he didn’t receive a response. At this point, he never expected them.

Forcing a smile onto his face, he got onto the bed and curled up next to him. Even if he was ‘sleeping,’ he still got comfort from knowing his brother was near.

“Night, Dreamy…”

Tears slipped down his cheeks as he screwed his eyes shut and whispered,

“Please wake up soon…”

**Author's Note:**

> TUMBLR: outerink.tumblr.com (pls hmu)  
> ANYWAYS, this is based on a dream i had a while ago of a mix of utmv and bapc so here we are!


End file.
